MAD3PAD 40-42

[Toby G Levy]

        Wicks remembers that some of the sailors think that l'Grand
turned around because they saw another ship coming to help the Seahorse.
Since there was no other ship, they thought it might have been a
guardian angel.

        Another opinion was that morale was low amongst the sailors on
l'Grand, and they didn't feel up to finishing the job of destroying the
Seahorse. Wicks envisions them sailing back to port singing a refrain
that I assume means something like "France does not make was against the
sciences." There's a clue that this is the actual reason in that Pynchon
states that the refrain will enter "the company of Great Humorous Naval
Quotations which would one day include..."  and goes on to cite two
quotations that were made after the characters in the novel had passed
away.

        Mason and Dixon are relieved of their medical duties and they
return above deck to drink and make jokes amidst the devastation of the
ship.

        The brief Chapter 5 begins on page 42. Mason and Dixon are
sizing each other up after experiencing each other's response to crisis.
They feel the war-time experience has bonded them together and "they
know they must stand as one..."

Toby